Strange Justice tells the story of the strange choice of Clarence Thomas as supreme court justice, and the strange from of justice that Anita Hill encountered when she tried to tell what she knew about him.

The book is well written and seems to be thoroughly researched. There are copious end notes detailing the sources the authors used, and the interviews they were granted. The authors leave no doubt that they believe that Anita Hill was sexually harassed. They also believe that Clarence Thomas should not be a supreme court justice. Perhaps someone better informed than I would be less easily persuaded, but I found their arguments convincing. That however is not the reason to read this book.

This book is worth reading for the amazing story of how aggressive and well organized the Republicans were, and how inept and naive the Democrats were. The Republicans spared no effort in organizing a national campaign to get their nominee approved, despite the fact that his only qualification was ambition. The cynicism is astounding. The Democrats on the other hand had no idea what was going on till it was too late. Even when Anita Hill presented them with an opportunity to derail the nomination of the reactionary Thomas they were too timid and passive to take advantage of it. The result was that the unqualified Thomas is now a supreme court justice, and Hill was savaged in the hearings.

The changes in the perception of sexual harassment as a result of these events are only briefly discussed. I would have liked to see more discussion of the after effects, and less of Thomas record at the EEOC.

hi i love this book i am 13 years old and love this book
i may be a littel biase becouse Jill Abramson was the first person to hold me after my mother and Jill Abramson is one of my moms best freinds but i like this book

I was prompted to read "Stange Justice" after reading the press about David Brock's recent confession disavowing his slander of Anita Hill in "The Real Anita Hill". Interestingly, the interim between the Thomas Supreme Court justice hearings and the present make this study more interesting. Since the president who manipulated Clarence Thomas onto the Supreme Court is the current president's father, many of those involved in the lobbying and selling of Clarence Thomas are operatives in the present presidential administration. After reading this account readers will find this particularly discouraging, as clearly they have had no accountability for the many miscarriages of justice which are documented.

This chronicle of the Thomas nomination places the Bush and Reagan administratons in an extremely unattractive light. However, as the two authors are senior editors with the "Wall Street Journal" this cannot be dismissed as a one sided liberal diatribe. "Strange Justice" is fair and balanced, and gives appropriate "credit" to the democrats for their timidity in failing to respond to the many opportunities to prevent Thomas's confirmation. There was bittersweet justice in that many of the "moderate" democrats who negotiated with the Bush administration due to imminent relection concerns ultimately ended up being defeated by constituents disgusted by their acquiescence in having allowed Thomas's approval.

"Strange Justice" does engage in a bit of pop psychology, drawing conclusions regarding how Thomas's childhood and career have molded his political philosophy. In summary, they describe an unhappy childhood resulting in a bitter, warped man with an immense chip on his shoulder. However, the Republicans made his origins fair game by selling Thomas on the basis of his noble, modest origins and "remarkable" success story. The authors are considerably more generous to Anita Hill, whose questionable judgement they attribute to naiviete. However, they also make a convincing case regarding an understandable reticience to respond to sexual harassment, as evidenced by the shameful way she was slandered by machinery of the Bush administration.

This is an important and chilling book. Unfortunately, it only leaves you more cynical about the machinations of our government.

but these stories, culled from his archives, represent the absolute best of his short work.

Hardy's tales here evoke early 19th century England; not just the Wessex Heath of Return of the Native (a novel whose opening four pages are among the best in all of literature) but the small towns where bootleggers operate and ghosts walk the back lanes.

All these stories have an "oral" quality about them, as if they were told by a hoary English gent, his face wreathed in smoke from an old Meerschaum. None of these stories will knock you out, but there were some pleasant surprises, including "An Imaginative Woman" (the best Hardy short story I've read so far), and "A Tragedy of Two Ambitions," which raises intriguing questions on murder and responsibility. Hardy's favorite tale, "The Son's Veto" is also included, but I found this story, along with "Fiddler of the Reels" to be a dud. "Barbara of the House of Grebe" is unintentionally funny - an execrable Gothic exercise, where Hardy sounds more formulaic than ever. Thankfully, the too-oft anthologized (but lovely) "The Three Strangers" is not included.

Hardy wrote a lot of garbage short stories in his career - so, kudos to the editor for weeding through them and presenting us with the best of his short works.

Read his novels. They are much better.

Hardy's novels continue to be justly popular and his poetry (which he considered his most important work)has worn well with the critics, but the short stories deserve a much wider audience than they have received. This collection, which contains some of his best, provides a fine introduction to the dark vision of the late Victorian master. The title story is uncharacteristically happy, a pastoral piece in which Hardy tells a comic tale about a young woman's unexpected talent for criminal activity. The other stories are much more representative, being concerned with the perils of love, the cruelty of convention and the tragic vulnerability of human aspirations to the whims of fate. Many of the tales are also wrapped in the Gothic and even grotesque trappings that Hardy seemed to favour when the mood was upon him. This collection gives Bram Stoker and Stephen King a run for their money, featuring a corpse with a stake driven through its heart, a new bride spending her wedding night with her new husband by her side and the corpse of her first husband in the next room, parricide, suicide and kidnapping. The mood of the pieces varies from the sunny high jinks of "The Distracted Preacher" to the wrenching tragedy of "A Son's Veto" and the relentless horror of "The Withered Arm." Overall, this group of tales gives the newcomer to Hardy an excellent introduction to his talents as a storyteller, and fans of his novels will enjoy the opportunity to see the master at work on a smaller stage.

If you are familiar with Hardy, you probably know him as a brilliant novelist and possibly, a poet (he excelled in both areas). However, he shone in the short story form as well, as this collection vividly demonstrates. This book includes some of Hardy's best known and most poignant stories, including the spectacular 'Grave by the Handpost' and the 'Fiddler of the Reels,' which echo with the tragic themes prevalent in his later novels. Hardy's prose style is incredibly moving and poetic in his short stories. He used words to serve a purpose, which is more than I can say for a number of Victorian writers. These stories are a wonderful introduction to Hardy if you have not had any exposure to his 'great' works. And don't give up with them! Although his style is moderately cumbersome, I'm sure you will find his socially-aware ideas surprisingly modern and unbelievably brutal in their rawness. Hardy is a classic writer who no one should miss reading. If you want a brilliant introduction to his work (but beware, reading these stories will drain you!) I highly recommend this collection. You will also enjoy it immensely if you've only experienced Hardy the novelist. A note to teachers: I am a high school student, and I know that my peers would have appreciated Hardy much more if he had been presented to them through these tremendous stories, rather than through his novels. I am a devout Hardy fanatic, but know people with short attention spans have difficulty appreciating his novels. Introducing Hardy to your students through his stories (I particularily recommend the Fiddler of the Reels) might allow you to cover more ground.

This is a collection of short stories from the author of "Look Homeward, Angel". I think that I took more enjoyment from this book because I've read Wolfe's other novels - therefore the background to the stories and Wolfe's writing style were already familiar to me.

Many of the characters in the stories are from families that appear in Wolfe's other works. But the real pleasure came from the fact that the stories are set in the rural South - I think that Wolfe's writing is particularly strong when he draws upon his Southern background. And, unlike parts of his major novels, Wolfe's writing style seems to be more under control in these stories, less prone to self-indulgence.

This collection of stories is far and away the best sampling of his true literary mastery. I have always enjoyed Southern writers (Faulkner,Capote,..), but Wolfe touches a particular vein of the satirical social landscape of the South that is unmatched. His work, I believe, is less about the South than Faulkner's, but Wolfe still has that southern glow of tragedy but with a simple beauty. Though some may find his novels tedious and long-winded, it is difficult to not like this work. Just be patient and let the words come to you. The thing I like most about his short stories is that they often leave you with a feeling of lying in bed on a summer's night listening to the train pass through town or maybe a lone dog barking in the distance, hollow... but thinking that you could live forever.

This is a collection of short-stories. For us who may be heratics in our beloved Southern Literature when it concerns Thomas Wolfe, we contend that he is a very verbose, messy messy author. His first editor had to cut and shape a large manuscript into three seperate novels (I believe that I'm correct in this), of which Look Homeward Angel was the first. (Apparently he wrote them on top of a refridgerator: a tall man.)And that book goes on and on and on--like the bunny commercial. He totally ignores any kind of sembulance of form. That is his problem, he does not brible his passion properly, Look H-- is a good book--but it could have been great--or atleast greater, depending on your view point.

Hemingway said that he was good until he began writing about other places than his home. I have to agree with that.

Now. This book, however, is his best crafted fiction. That simple. Something about the demanding, concise form of the short story works him over well. The first time that I read it I thought--that's it! The Southern author I've been looking for. But, unfortunately, I became all worked up for Look H-- and after reading that it all fizzled. One wonders two things: 1. what if he had lived longer?, he seems to have just become the craftsman that was always demanded for his ferver; and 2. what if he had written Look Homeward Angel, after he had true command of his skills.

This is a great book. In my opinion his best. Read it.

Sad, but true this wonderful writer Thomas Thompson is gone, he died of (I believe) liver cancer, but this book is the best written book of a story so eerie and scarie, how this doctor could do the evil things he did. I have this copy and I have never loan it to anyone, (but once) to a very good friend, who doesn't even like murder mysteries, but I knew she would love this one! It even more bizarre because its true.l Try to find a copy - you will be hooked and want to read more by this author.

'Blood and Money' is just about the best book I have ever read regarding true crime. I am an avid Ann Rule fan but Tommy Thompson's tale of murder(s)in Texas was spellbinding. I have read this book probably 20 times and will read it again and again. This book was the best purchase I have ever made at a used book store.

I read this book about a year ago, it still haunts me. I just found Prescription Murder in the used book store and though its another perspective of what happened, nothing can compare with Thomas Thompsons skill and in depth version of the events. It's trully sad to have lost such a great true crime writer.

Book was very factual. I do not recall the road to the "On Time" ferry having a 90 degree turn to the dock. It was more like an arc. The bridge road was at 100-115 degree right turn. The DA, my next door neighbor, needs further examination. The author should not assume she drowned. An autopsy would have painted a far different picture. Money buys many things.

Since the only other review of this book doesn't make any sense, I thought it necessary to write a coherent one. This book is truly incredible. It proves Ted Kennedy's guilt with clarity and integrity. The facts are simply undeniable - if it weren't for Ted, Mary Jo would be alive today. The Kennedy family has long been America's sweethearts. It is high time that they are revealed as murders, philanderers, cheaters, liars and losers. Sorry, but this is coming from an Irish Catholic who is ashamed to admit that the Kennedys claim some ties to the land of her origin! They are all bad but Ted Kennedy is the worst. He should be behind bars- this book will tell you why. Read it - it's a well done piece of detective work and it will hold your interest. It may also make your blood boil - but that's not the authors' fault! DOWN WITH THE KENNEDYS!

I used Online Law as a reference for my E-Commerce project at the community college. It covered all the important topics in great detail. The book is organized like a textbook, so it is easy to find the information you need. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in doing business on the Internet.

Any book on "online law" that was published in 1996 is going to include _some_ things that are out of date. Nevertheless this volume has held up extremely well. And it was written by a group of attorneys who know their stuff in both law and technology.

The coverage is thorough. A short introductory chapter explains what's "new and different" about online law; then a second chapter gives an overview of the legal issues that affect e.g. websites and e-commerce.

After that, the books breaks out into subheadings, each including multiple chapters on specific topics. Part I covers information security; Part II, online transactions; Part III, intellectual property rights in electronic information; Part IV, the regulation of informational content; Part V, the regulation of online conduct. As if that weren't enough, there's an appendix that provides a quick overview of cryptography. (If you think you might actually need to work with the stuff, you'll eventually want to invest in Bruce Schneier's book. But this is a good intro.)

As I said, some of it is a _little_ out of date. There's a lot of talk, for example, about modifications to the Uniform Commercial Code that were under debate in 1996; and of course any book written in 1996 can't take account of, e.g., the Digital Copyright Clarification and Technology Act of 1997, let alone the final outcome of _New York Times v. Tasini_. But the underlying legal issues haven't changed much, and this volume is still about as good an introduction as you'll find.

If you want a solid grounding in the law relating to information technology, supplement this book with Jonathan Bick's _101 Things You Need to Know About Internet Law_ and you'll be in good shape. If you want to specialize in this field there are other books you'll want too, but by the time you need them you'll know what they are.

Encyclopedia of Networking, Electronic Edition, contains nearly everything a newbie or guru would ever need to know about networking. The writing is extremely clear and really hits the mark in terms of not dumbing down the topics. Be sure to get the Electronic Edition which includes the entire book on a CD-ROM (it's less embarrassing to look something up on the CD than a five-pound book when you get a sticky question, not to mention that it's easier to carry around).

Complete, well-organized, well-written, awesome CD! A must have book for anybody involved in networking.

This is without doubt the best book I have in my collection. Since I started focusing my career on networking it has been my constant reference.

It is a mine of concise and well-organized information. The "Related Entries" listings make the book easy to use, the "Information on the Internet" references are excellent gateways to further reading. The book contains a wealth of graphics and diagrams to clarify the readers understanding.

I am now working for one of the giants of global networking, a new job, for which the book can take a lot of credit. The CD on my laptop will ensure Encyclopedia of Networking remains a constant reference.

I think you should read. Hill of Fire. It is very good. I like the middle part. My favorite part is when the volcano erupts. I think you should read this book.

I thought this book was really good. If you read my report l think you should read the book. It is about a man and his boy. His father is a farmer and one day the boy comes out and helps his father. Then they hit the top of a volcano. Which is in the ground and it destroys everything. Then they rebuild everything.

Hill of Fire tells the true story of a Mexican farmer who encounters the beginnings of a volcano in his corn field. The vocabulary is very easy, and yet the author captures the mood of the sleepy village that was changed forever by El Monstruo. I recommend this book to teachers of grades 2 and 3 and to children who are just moving away from picture books.

As much as I generally choose fast paced, psychological suspense mysteries - this book kept me on the edge of my seat. Just as Cook was about to reveal a thread of the story he would pull you back into the present - it had twists and turns and was well written. Cook did a great job of keeping me guessing until the very end. It is a haunting story of lost love and remorse. It truly brings you back to those days of yearning in high school and shows you how one small event effets so many lives. A great read and a moving tale.

This is a wonderful novel. The format is repeated in several of Cook's novels (e.g. The Chatham School Affair, Instruments of Night), but only in Breakheart is Cook able to pull off the past and present juxtaposition. What really makes this story work is the depth and complexity of the narrator--and his relationship to the charismatic teenage girl with whom he is in love. I do not want to give any of the plot away, but, suffice it to say, it should enthrall and even consume you. I have read approximately 500 suspense/mysteries in the past few years and have read only two of them twice: Breakheart and Andrew Taylor's Four Last Things, both of which are significantly underrated. This novel should not only change your attitude towards life, but also, more importantly, alter the way you live. Thoroughly intoxicating, this book must be read.

Many of the reviews already posted convey, at least partially,my thoughts and feelings about Breakheart Hill ("Breakheart"). I find it inappropriate to summarize the plot or give away anything crucial in the novel, but I still would like to offer a few comments on this very special novel. Most of Cook's recent novels have juxtaposed the present with the past. The vehicle for this movement between present and past is the narrator, who is often the main character or the co-main character. Personally, I liked Mortal Memory and Breakheart Hill, with Breakheart far surpassing anything else that Cook has written. The two main characters,one being the narrator, give us a profound entry into the human soul. The book is incredibly well-written (not over-written like Instruments of Night or the Chatham School Affair) Breakheart creates suspense that flows inevitably from the characters and their actions (and thoughts). Unlike most so-called psychological thrillers (e.g. Ruth Rendell, P.D. James) this novel intelligently explores the psyche of man/woman AND, if read carefully, the reader can enlarge his knowledge of this fragile creature called man/woman. This is a mesmerizing book which entertains and teaches. A work of literature. Essential reading. Along with Andrew Taylor's Four Last Things, Breakheart Hill is the finest suspense novel ever written.

I have read four of Hardy's novels and loved them but I didn't like this one and didn't even finish it. For one it is not an engaging novel. Usually I can't put Hardy's novels down but I was reluctant to pick this one up. Second Hardy seems to blame "society" for everything that goes wrong in Jude's life. This is a huge departure for Hardy who normally writes about flawed characters that create their own misery and troubles. Blaming social pressure not Jude's personal acts is a departure from his other books such as The Mayor of Casterbridge.

I personally had no sympathy for Jude or the other characters in the book. I also found the anti-marriage theme troubling. Jude chose to enter a relationship with Arabella who was completely wrong for him. People who knowingly enter relationships and then marriages with inappropriate people are completely responsible for the misery that results. Saying that social conformity is a bad thing because it asks men to take responsibility for the offspring they produce is troubling. Yes Arabella tricked him into marriage with a false pregnancy but he chose to become intimate with someone knowing pregnancy was a possibility. Hardy's theme of victimization is so annoying I don't plan to read anymore of his books.

Jude The Obscure goes against the normal strain in its treatment of topics ranging from marriage, ambition, dreams, and class-society. The book takes shocking twists and turns, and even though the subjects are often depressing, the sheer shock of what has just happened makes you want to read more. Hardy's main character is Jude, a poor, parentless boy whose ambitions far exceed the restrictions his class would put on him. Throughout his childhood he pushed himself in the studies of academia, he would always be seen with Latin books while delivering bread to the villagers. Eventually, as Jude grows he decides to move to Chirstminister-Jude's dream starting from his very early days of youth. Christminister is the center of all academic pursuit and home to the greatest colleges of learning. We follow Jude's adventures there, along with all of his attempts to being admitted into one of these institutions. This is not easy for a young man who has no money or family status behind him. One of Jude's great battles is between his burning desire to achieve higher learning, and his weakness towards women which draw him away from this goal. The elements which Jude's eventual children present, make an outlandish story even stranger by their actions. Certainly Hardy intended the children to present us with some additional lessons to consider while contemplating the book.

The book was difficult for me to read, as mentioned in other reviews, the depressing subject matter and gloominess is not inherently an inviting thing. However, by unfolding the story as Hardy did, following the dreams and failures of young Jude, I learned some lessons that I do not think I could have otherwise. I received a strong personal impression in the importance of not giving up on yourself. That even if your opportunities are not optimal, or you environment is not perfect, that you still have the ability to reach for your dreams. And at all costs you should not give up on your dreams, or believe that you are not capable of accomplishing them. I also thought a lot about the acts the society would have us perform, which are not securely right. Having read the book forced me to reflect about the daily choices I make, how many of those are really mine, and how many are artificial restraints institutions would have me believe I must make.

While I have read more entertaining books, I would have to recommend this one because of the unique perspective it presents. Hardy message allows us to think about important issues in a light not often seen through.

Prior to reading Jude the Obscure, I had a smattering of knowledge about the religious uproar it caused upon publication, which led Hardy to abandon novels and focus merely on poetry. His work being denounced and burned by the churches, Hardy felt that if that was to be the treatment of his work, he would no longer produce the work.

Now that I have read the novel, and having attempted to place myself in the mindset of the later 19th century morals and ideals, I can begin to understand why such an uproar was raised.

First, the story...Jude Fawley, of poor and meager birth, aspires to academic greatness. When it is recommended to him that he stay on the 'blue collar' course he has begun, and not wish for more, he decides to educate himself, one day hoping that it will position him for greater things.

Jude enters into a hasty marriage, which by later standards would be described as a 'shotgun' wedding, which he eventually comes to regret, and ends. Enter his cousin Sue, who becomes the love of his life. Sue also ends an unsatisfactory first marriage, freeing herself to be with Jude, whom she loves as well.

What follows is a descent into tragedy and despair, with numerous twists and turns along the way. Not wanting to spoil them, I will not divulge.

However, the remainder of the novel touches upon many, many themes that amounted to raising of the ire of the church in response. Divorce; childbirth out of wedlock; loss of faith in God; questioning religious ideals and teachings; all these and more are present in the latter half of the novel, and so much more.

Upon finishing the book, I was left to question were these really Hardy's own feelings illustrated in his work, or simply a realization of a course of events for the characters, and not a reflection on the author's beliefs. That, however, bears further reading on the life of Thomas Hardy.

Where I find fault with the novel is in the characters, and it is merely a distaste with their actions. Sue, the heroine, spends far too much time vacillating about her love for Jude and her desire to marry him. When Jude tries to do the right thing by Sue, and respect her wishes, she claims he has 'given up too easily, and doesn't seem at all disappointed'. Jude's first wife, Arabella, displays an utterly selfish, self-absorbed personality, and was, for me, unlikeble, and unsympathetic. Jude, a character capable of learning Latin and Greek and engaging in other scholarly pursuits, seems completely naive in the ways of the world, and further seems blinded by a sense of duty over a sense of the rights and wrongs of others. His actions make him appear to have no regard for himself, until the very end.

Perhaps this is exactly as Hardy meant the characters to be seen, perhaps not. I did enjoy the book more than I expected to, and apparently more than others who have said to me "What on earth are you reading THAT for???". Hardy is not a comedy writer, and one should not expect a glamorous, cheerful, tidy ending, it does not exist here.

While not the greatest of classic novels I have read, I can certainly see why this one has been discussed for over 100 years. While Dickens peppered his stories with levity to break up the gloom, Hardy continues on a downward spiral, leaving his characters in despair within and without. I recommend it to readers who enjoy a good characterization of later 19th century life in England. But if you are looking for something to put a smile on your face, Hardy might not be for you.